Tuesday, August 23, 2005

How to Buy an Electric Guitar Online

By: George Nellas

With the increased proliferation of online guitar and musicalequipment stores, as well as the lower prices and greaterselection that these stores generally offer, most people are nowturning to the internet to help them make their guitarpurchases. Shopping online is simpler and more convenient thanshopping in a store and, since all major guitar manufacturershave good websites, product information and specs are moreeasily accessible online than they are simply by asking asalesperson in a store.

The only downside to shopping online is pretty easy to figureout: there's no physical contact with the instrument. Thinkabout it, when you're shopping for a new car, you can get in,look around and take it for a test drive. With shopping for aguitar online, that's not generally possible. This means thatyou have to educate yourself a bit more about what you're tryingto purchase before you actually take the plunge.

Not all guitars are created equal. Although, with theimprovement in manufacturing processes and technologies,purchasing a "bad" guitar for more than $250 is difficult to dothese days. Talk to your fellow musicians, either in person oron an online community or "blog" and see what different peoplehave to say about the instruments they've played. Many onlinestores allow their users to rate their products so, along withthe general information about the guitar, you can also find outwhat people who bought the guitar thought of it, and why.

Research what your favorite guitarists play. Not only in termsof brands, but in the configuration of the guitar itself: wasthat fantastic solo played with a single-coil or a humbuckingpickup; why do country guitarists typically use Telecaster-styleguitars? In answering these questions, you will better educateyourself about what type of guitar you are most interested in.Don't forget, if you buy something online that you aren'tsatisfied with, almost all online stores have a 30 to 45 day nofault return policy.

About the author:If you don't know where to begin shopping, check out www.guitar-4u.com. They have the best selections from all the majormanufacturers, as well as detailed information about themanufacturers as well as all the products they offer. Happyhunting!